Chapter 4 (Part 2)

Though he received new skills with each monster he consumed, he obtained new magic less and less frequently. Boss-level monsters still gave him new magic, but the standard ones loitering around each floor had stopped granting him new spells. He hypothesized that was because he was becoming more and more monster-like in constitution every time his body strengthened itself from eating monster meat. After all, monsters didn't obtain the magic of the prey they killed and ate.

With their preparations finally complete, Hajime and Yue descended the stairs to the floor below.

The bottom of the staircase opened up into a massive open room, empty save for the pillars that dotted the area. Each pillar had a spiral pattern engraved into its stone face. It gave off the impression that each pillar was a massive tree with vines entwined around its trunk. The pillars were all spaced evenly apart from each other, and extended all the way to the ceiling thirty meters above. The ground was unnaturally smooth, as if it had been paved. All in all, it was a very majestic room.

Hajime and Yue took a step forward as they marveled at the room's design. The moment they stepped inside, the pillars in front of them began glowing faintly. The two of them instantly returned to their senses and warily observed their surroundings. Starting from the pillars nearest to them, each set began glowing one after the other.

Hajime and Yue both instantly raised their guard, but after a while nothing more happened, so they carefully continued forward. Both of them were on alert for any sign of enemies.

After about two hundred meters of walking, they found themselves staring at the opposite wall. Set within it was a massive set of doors. The ten-meter-tall pair of double doors also had something engraved into them. There was a heptagon carved into each, with a peculiar pattern adorning each vertex of the shape.

"Well, that's quite the impressive entrance. Do you think this is..."

"...Where the maverick lives?" Yue responded.

It really looked like the kind of room that'd have a last boss in it. Though none of his perception skills were picking up on anything, Hajime's instincts were screaming at him nonetheless. "It's dangerous to go any further," they told him. Yue felt it as well, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Well, if it is, that's just perfect. That means we've finally made it to our goal." Hajime pushed down his instincts and put on his usual fearless smile. No matter what was ahead, they had no choice but to move forward.

"...Yeah!" Yue glared resolutely at the double doors.

They stepped forward simultaneously, walking past the last pair of pillars. The moment they cleared them... a massive, thirty meter large magic circle appeared in the air between them and the door. It pulsed malignantly as it shot out gouts of dark red light.

This kind of magic circle was very familiar to Hajime. He could never forget the magic circle that was responsible for trapping his class on the bridge and ultimately sending Hajime hurtling down into the abyss. However, this one was three times the size of the one that had summoned the behemoth, and the inscriptions on it were far more complex and precise.

"Crap, that size is no joke. We're seriously up against this place's last boss?"

"Don't worry... we won't lose."

Hajime's smile understandably faltered a little, but Yue's determined expression remained unshaken, and she tightly squeezed Hajime's arm. He nodded in response, and smiled wryly as he watched the magic circle finish its summoning.

Finally, it let out one last incandescent burst of light. Yue and Hajime both covered their eyes to preserve their sight. Once the illumination dimmed, they got their first glimpse of their foe. What stood before them was a monster thirty meters in length. It had six heads attached to very long necks, each of which had a different-colored pattern engraved into its head and a pair of dark red eyes. It resembled the mythical Hydra.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" It let out a peculiar howl and focused all six pairs of eyes on Hajime and Yue. Determined to pass judgment on the foolish intruders, the Hydra unleashed a wave of bloodlust so powerful it would have stopped a normal person's heart on the spot.

At the same time, the red-patterned head opened its jaw and unleashed a torrent of flames. A veritable wall of fire raced toward them.

Hajime and Yue both dove in different directions, and instantly began firing off counterattacks. Hajime pulled Donner's trigger, and a small spark ignited the blastrock inside the bullet, which passed through an electrically charged barrel and accelerated toward the red-patterned head. The bullet slammed into the Hydra, blowing the red head clean off.

As he struck a triumphant pose, the white head let out a long screech, and white light began enveloping the destroyed red head. Then, like a tape rewinding, the red head flew back through the air and reattached itself to the Hydra's neck. So the white head's the healer.

Seconds later, Yue's ice spears sheared the green head off, but the white head restored that one too.

Hajime clicked his tongue and contacted Yue with Telepathy.

"Yue, aim for the white one! This'll never end if it keeps healing!"

"Got it!" The blue head opened its mouth next, firing a spray of ice pebbles at both of them. They nimbly dodged the barrage and took aim at the white head.

Bang! "Crimson Javelin!" A burning spear and speeding bullet raced toward the white head.

But just before they hit their target, the yellow head put itself in the line of fire and reared like a cobra. It took both Hajime's bullet and Yue's Crimson Javelin head on. It survived both the impact of a bullet and the heat of the explosion completely unscathed, and gazed coldly down at the two creatures below it.

"Tch! It has a tank too? Quite the balanced party it's got there." Hajime pulled an incendiary grenade out of his pack and threw it at the heads. He then fired a barrage of full power rounds at the white head. Yue fired a salvo of Crimson Javelins to match him. If she uses her Azure Blaze, she can probably take the yellow and white heads out at once, but it'll be risky since she'll be exhausted afterward. She'll recover right away if she sucks my blood, but I doubt the other heads will give us that much time. There was also the possibility they were tough enough to withstand Yue's strongest spell. Therefore, Hajime decided it would be too dangerous for Yue to use her strongest spells until at least half the heads were dealt with.

The yellow head managed to perfectly block their barrage of attacks. However, even it couldn't come out of such a bombardment unscathed, and it was clearly wounded in places.

"Graaaaaaaah!" But the white head began healing the yellow one almost instantly. It was disgustingly proficient at healing magic.

However, right as it finished healing the yellow head, the grenade exploded directly above it. A deluge of burning tar fell upon the Hydra's heads. Some of it landed on the white head too, which made it screech in pain.

Hajime activated his telepathy to inform Yue not to let this chance slip by. But before he could say anything, a bloodcurdling scream reached his ears.

Yue's scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

"Yue!?"

Hajime tried to rush over to Yue, but the red and green heads unleashed a torrent of flame and wind to block his path. Yue's screams continued, and Hajime gritted his teeth in worry as he tried to piece together what was happening. It was then that he remembered the black head had yet to make a move.

No wait, maybe it already has made its move! Hajime frantically dodged with Aerodynamic and Supersonic Step while he fired Donner at the black head. A hyper-accelerated bullet slammed into the black head, knocking its gaze off of Yue. At the same time, Yue slumped to the ground. He could tell she was pale even from his distant position.

The blue head opened its jaw wide, and rushed toward Yue, intending to eat her.

"Don't you dareeeeeeeeeeeee!" Heedless of the damage it might do to his own body, he used Supersonic Step to dash right through the storm of fire and wind.

He used Donner and Gale Claw to deflect any fatal blows while ignoring the rest, and just barely made it to Yue before the blue head did. He had no time to mount a counterattack, so he used Diamond Skin to make himself a human shield. When Diamond Skin was active, Hajime couldn't move. That was why he hadn't used it earlier.

A layer of diamond-hard mana enveloped him seconds before the blue head's jaws sunk into him.

"Grrrrr!"

"Guh!"

With a low growl, the blue head tried to swallow Hajime whole. However, he held his ground and used his back and feet to keep it from closing its jaws on him. He quickly pushed Donner up against its upper jaw and fired.

With a bang, the top part of its head popped off like a jack-in-the-box. The strength vanished from its jaws and Hajime kicked the remnants of its head away with his Steel Legs. He then pulled out a flash grenade and sound grenade and kicked them over to the Hydra.

The sound grenade was a new addition he had picked up from a monster on the 80th floor that used ultrasonic waves to fight. He had harvested the organ the monster used to produce those sounds and incorporated it into his arsenal. It hadn't provided him with any new magic, but the organ had been apparently classified as an ore, so he was able to transmute it into a sound grenade.

The combination of light and sound disoriented the Hydra. With the few seconds he'd managed to buy them, Hajime scooped up Yue and hid behind one of the pillars.

"Hey! Yue! Say something!"

"..."

She didn't respond to Hajime's voice at all and simply sat in his arm, pale and trembling.

"How dare that black bastard do this!" Hajime cursed and started lightly slapping Yue's cheeks. He tried calling out to her with Telepathy too, and even gave her a vial of Ambrosia. After a while, Yue's eyes finally began to regain their former glimmer.

"Yue!"

"...Hajime?"

"Yep, it's me. How are you feeling? Just what happened back there?"

After blinking confusedly for a few more seconds, Yue gently stroked Hajime's cheek, as if making sure he was really there. Once she was sure he really was, she breathed a small, relieved sigh. There were tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm so glad... I thought I'd been... abandoned again. Alone in the darkness..."

"Huh? What on earth are you talking about?"

Hajime asked, bewildered. Apparently Yue had suddenly been assailed by visions of being abandoned by Hajime and sealed once more in the darkness. The absolute terror of something like that happening to her had paralyzed her thoughts and stopped her from moving.

"Tch! So the black one's a debuffer? Looks like it inflicts a fear status on people. Shit, this monster really is a perfectly balanced party!"

"...Hajime."

Yue looked worriedly up at Hajime, who was busy insulting the Hydra. It must have been quite the terrifying sight for her, being abandoned by Hajime.

From Yue's point of view, Hajime was the man who had risked his life to save her from her three hundred year old prison. On top of that, even after learning she was a vampire, he hadn't shunned her. In fact, he'd happily let her suck his blood every day. The thought that he had abandoned her had stricken her to her very core.

Hajime's side was the only place she had left to return to. She was happy beyond words when he had offered to take her home with him. And the thought of being alone again scared her just as much.

The seeds of fear the head had planted in her mind had begun to sprout, and they were eating away at her even now. Hajime didn't have the time to console her though, as the Hydra had recovered from the flashbang. He rose, intending to return to the fray, but was stopped by Yue, who clutched tightly to his shirt.

"...I..." She was still trembling, and it looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. Hajime was able to more or less figure out what was going through her mind based on the nightmare she'd just had. And from the way she always acted around him, he could guess what she was feeling too. Regardless, he had promised he'd bring her to Japan with him. He could hardly ignore her plight.

That being said, there was no time to comfort her. Trying to give her any half-assed words of consolation would just make things worse if the black head attacked her again. It was even possible the head would target Hajime, so he needed Yue in perfect mental condition to follow up in case he got hit.

But in the end, he knew he was just trying to make excuses for himself. Hajime awkwardly scratched his head and squatted down in front of Yue. She tilted her head, puzzled, as he looked her in the eyes. And...

"...Ah!?" He kissed her on the lips.

It was more of a peck than a kiss, and Hajime's lips barely touched hers, but it took her completely by surprise. Her eyes opened wide as she stared blankly at him. Embarrassed, he broke eye contact and pulled Yue to her feet.

"We're gonna kill that bastard. We're gonna make it out of here alive and go home... Together." Yue was still staring at Hajime in a daze, but her usually empty expression was gone. In its place was the most radiant smile he'd ever seen.

"Yeah!" Hajime awkwardly cleared his throat and switched gears back to battle mode as he outlined his plan.

"Yue, I'm going to bring out Schlagen. It can't fire consecutive shots, so I'm going to need you to cover me."

"Leave it to me!" There was more enthusiasm in Yue's voice than usual. Normally, she just mumbled listlessly, but her reply this time was filled with emotion. It looked like she'd been freed from all her old fears. And from the looks of it, her inhibitions. When he recalled just how dependent she was on him, he realized he might have been a bit hasty. The future's going to be pretty rocky, he thought as he smiled wryly.

Tired of their lovers' skit, the Hydra roared angrily, reminding the two of its presence with a barrage of wind, fire, and ice. The two of them leaped out from behind the pillar, then began their counterattack.

"Crimson Javelin! Force Lasher! Glacial Sleet!" Yue unleashed spell after spell. Spears of fire, spiraling whirlwinds created from the force of a vacuum, and needles of ice assailed the Hydra one after another.

She had aimed for the moment right after the heads had finished their attack, when they were at their most vulnerable. A barrage of magic rained down on the red, blue, and green heads. The yellow tried to cover them, but then noticed Hajime was firing on the white, and roared angrily as it was forced back to protect their healer.

"Graaaaaaaaaaah!" It slammed into a nearby pillar, transforming the stone into an impromptu shield. It appeared the yellow head had an ability similar to the scorpion's. Though it was nowhere near as powerful.

The first of Yue's spells pulverized the shield, allowing the latter two to rain down on the unprotected Hydra heads.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" The three heads all screamed in unison. The black head turned to Yue the moment her spells subsided and cast its fear magic on her again.

She could feel the same fear and unease creeping up on her. But this time, the memory of Hajime's kiss reassured her. The fear was blown away and replaced by something warm as it tried to take hold of her.

"That won't work on me anymore!" Since her current job was to just cover Hajime, she focused more on bombarding the Hydra continually with spells, not worrying too much about their strength. The red, green, and blue heads all recovered and started attacking again, but Yue was able to take all three on at once. She neutralized their barrage with her own magic and often had enough time to slip in an attack too.

Hajime closed in on the Hydra while the three attacking heads were busy with Yue. He couldn't afford to let them block his first shot, since that was likely all he was going to get.

Realizing its fear magic wasn't working on Yue, the black head turned to Hajime. Fear and unease began to well up in his chest, and visions of his early days in hell floated up in his mind. He recalled the pain and starvation he had suffered when he had first fallen into the abyss. However...

"So what!" That was a past he had long since overcome. He had suffered enough that such pain meant nothing to him anymore. He nonchalantly blew the black head off with Donner.

The white head began healing again, but before it could finish restoring the black head, Hajime jumped up to it with a combination of Aerodynamic and Supersonic Step. After that, he pulled Schlagen off his back and nestled it within his armpit.

The yellow head moved to block Hajime, but he had already predicted that effort.

"I'll just get you both, then!" He activated his Lightning Field, and there was brief red spark as the bullet ignited. This specialized bullet was a full metal jacket, made with a taur core and coated with the same material that composed the scorpion's shell, shtar. Since shtar hardened with magic, the Lightning Field further powered up its destructive force. His rifle bullets had far more blastrock packed into them as well, and there was a mini-explosion as the bullet rocketed forward.

Boom! There was the sound of a cannon firing, and his special red bullet rocketed through the 1.5-meter-long barrel, picking up speed as it passed. The electrically accelerated bullet was easily four to five times as powerful as a full-power shot from Donner. That tiny bullet packed more force than a battleship round. The creation of such a fearsome weapon was only possible because of his special magic and the super-hard minerals found in this other world.

The only thing that could compare would be a very powerful laser. The bullet scorched the very air as it passed, heading straight for the yellow head.

The yellow head had its own powered up version of Hajime's Diamond Skin, but the bullet still blasted through it as if it were nothing more than paper. It pierced through the yellow head, pierced through the white one behind it, and exploded against the wall behind it. The entire dungeon floor shook from the impact.

Once the dust cleared, all that remained were the remnants of the two melted heads, which had somehow fused together, and a hole drilled so deep into the wall Hajime couldn't see where it ended.

The remaining three heads momentarily forgot to keep fighting and stared in slack-jawed amazement at what had happened to their comrades.

Hajime landed lightly onto the ground and ejected the spent shell from Schlagen. The empty casing fell to the ground with a clink, and the three heads suddenly remembered the predicament they were in. They all glared hatefully at Hajime, but the opponent they had been engaged with until just now was not one they could afford to take their eyes off of.

"Thunderlord's Judgment." Ribbons of gold mana flew wildly around the regal vampire princess. Hajime bore witness to the overpowering strength her family had feared so much that they'd sealed her away. Her magic rained down on them like judgment from God.

Six spheres of lightning surrounded the remaining three heads. They hung there in the air for a moment before shooting bolts into each other, connecting the six spheres into one huge ring of lightning. A new sphere formed at the ring's center, larger than all the others.

It hung there, like a Parthenon made of lightning, shining brighter than the sun. The blazing temple of lightning unleashed its power with the force of a thousand suns.

Crackle! The middle lightning sphere pulsed, and everything encased within the temple was blasted with millions of volts of lightning. The three remaining heads desperately tried to escape, but the outer ring acted as a prison, trapping them in their lightning hell. A huge flash was followed by a thunderous boom, and it was as if God's wrath itself had come down on them.

Within seconds, Yue's spell burnt the remaining heads to cinders. They died screaming in agony, unable to do anything to resist.

Yue slumped onto the ground like she always did after casting a powerful spell. She was panting heavily and had returned to her usual deadpan expression, but her eyes glowed with satisfaction. She gave Hajime a thumbs-up. Smiling, he returned the gesture. He fixed his grip on Schlagen, then started walking over to Yue.

However, an instant later—

"Hajime!" He heard her panicked shout. Sensing the urgency in her voice, he turned around to see what she was looking at, and saw that a seventh head had grown out of the remnants of the Hydra's body. It was glaring right at Hajime. He reflexively stiffened up.

The seventh head, which had a silver pattern carved into its forehead, shifted its gaze from Hajime to Yue, and without warning, fired an aurora of rainbow colored light at her. The aurora ate up the distance between it and Yue at an alarming rate. She had exhausted all her mana and wouldn't be able to dodge in time.

Hajime shifted his gaze from the head to Yue, and chills ran down his spine. Without thinking, he leaped forward.

Just like when he had rushed to save her from the blue head. Hajime managed to reach her before the aurora could wipe her off the face of the earth.

However, things didn't end as fortuitously as they had with the blue head. The light swallowed Hajime whole. Even after he absorbed most of the attack, the shockwaves were enough to bowl Yue backward.

After the light subsided, Yue forced her aching body to get up. She frantically looked around, searching for Hajime.

She saw him standing in the same spot he had been in before the attack hit. He stood there defiantly, smoke rising from his body. The burnt husk of Schlagen slipped from his fingers, and fell to the ground. The bottom part had already fused with the floor below.

"H-Hajime?"

"..."

There was no reply. Then suddenly, he pitched forward onto the ground.

"Hajime!" Ignoring her body's protests, Yue desperately tried to run over to Hajime. However, her exhausted body couldn't keep up, so she tripped. She curbed her impatience and forced herself to drink a vial of Ambrosia. The moment she felt an ounce of her strength return, she stood back up and rushed over to Hajime.

He was lying face-down on the ground, blood pooling beneath him. His Diamond Skin hadn't been able to protect him completely. Had he not used Schlagen, which was made of the scorpion's shell, as a shield, he most likely would have died instantly.

She gently rolled him over onto his back, then gasped when she saw his injuries. His fingers, shoulders, and armpit had all been burnt to a crisp, and white bone was peeking out from the charred remains of skin and muscle. The entire right side of his face had been scorched too, and blood was dripping from his burnt right eye socket. The only thing that had saved his legs from suffering the same fate was probably the angle of the attack.

Yue hurriedly tried to force some Ambrosia down his throat, but the Hydra was already readying its next attack. This time it fired off a barrage of ten centimeter wide balls of light. It was like some kind of rainbow-colored Gatling gun.

Yue picked up Hajime and, squeezing out every last ounce of her strength, managed to carry him to safety behind one of the pillars. Light balls slammed into the pillar one after another. It likely wouldn't last even a minute longer. Each of the balls contained a frightening amount of force.

Yue quickly poured Ambrosia all over his wounds and pulled out a second vial, intending to feed it to him. However, he didn't even have the strength left to swallow, so he weakly choked it back out. Yue filled her own mouth with Ambrosia, then plugged his mouth with her own, forcing it down his throat.

However, while the Ambrosia stopped any more blood from seeping out, it was unable to fully heal Hajime's wounds. Normally it would start healing them right away, but it seemed something was obstructing it from working properly.

"Why!?" Yue was practically in a state of panic at that point. She began pulling out all the Ambrosia vials Hajime had on him.

The reason things were progressing slowly was because the Hydra's light actually contained a poison that melted flesh as well. By all rights, it should have already finished melting Hajime's body.

The fact that it hadn't, in and of itself, showed just how powerful the Ambrosia was. While not by much, it had managed to overcome the poison, and was slowly healing Hajime's wounds. Though it was taking longer than usual, the Ambrosia's effects coupled with Hajime's naturally strong half-monster body meant he would eventually heal. However, his right eye had already dissolved beyond all repair, and even the Ambrosia wouldn't be able to bring it back.

The pillar was on its last legs too, and would most likely be destroyed before Hajime recovered enough to move. Yue looked down at him, a determined expression on her face, and kissed him. Then, after taking Donner from its holster, she stood up.

"...It's my turn to save you this time..." she whispered softly, before dashing out from behind the pillar.

She had very little mana remaining and no more Ambrosia. The only things she could rely on were her body strengthening magic, her natural abilities as a vampire, her unreliable self-regeneration, and Donner.

The Hydra reared its silver-crested head as Yue ran into its sight, and fired another barrage of light balls. Yue didn't have the mana left to shoot them down with magic and, lacking Hajime's skill with firearms, didn't have the confidence to shoot them all down with Donner, so she opted to run. But physical strength had always been Yue's one weakness. She was backed into a corner almost instantly.

Finally, one of them hit her on the shoulder.

"Aguu!?" Even as she screamed in pain, she used the impact of the attack to roll back on her feet and resume running. She knew the moment she stopped from the pain, it'd be all over for her.

Her automatic regeneration took longer than usual to kick in. The melting properties of the Hydra's head were effective against her self-healing as well. And so, she lost even more mana by healing herself. At the rate things were going, she wouldn't even have enough mana to keep her body strengthening up.

Every time she tried to get closer, a barrage of light balls drove her back. But she needed to close the gap somehow. She wasn't confident she'd be able to hit the Hydra with Donner from so far back. She needed to create an opening somehow. However, she was unable to find any way to do so, and all too soon she was cornered again.

Desperate, she fired Donner in the hopes of forcing a way out of her predicament. Though she couldn't use Lightning Field, she was proficient enough with thunder magic that she managed to accelerate the bullet. In a stroke of beginner's luck, the bullet weaved neatly between the barrage of light balls and hit the Hydra right in the head.

Unfortunately, however...

"Huh?" Yue let out an involuntary mewl of surprise.

Even if she hadn't gotten the hang of accelerating it yet, she'd still added quite a bit of force to the bullet. Despite that, the silver-crested head had only a tiny scratch on it.

Despair began coloring her expression. But if she let herself be defeated, Hajime would die. Yue gritted her teeth and continued dodging.

Still, she wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. The silver-crested head reared back and fired a second aurora. The spread of bullets restricted her evasive routes until, finally, she was forced to let a ball blow her back to keep her from getting devoured entirely by the aurora's light.

The ball she was forced to take as compensation for dodging the aurora hit her square in the stomach and sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Ugh... Ghh..." Her body refused to move. She knew if she didn't get up she'd be devoured by a barrage of light balls. But no matter how she struggled, her muscles refused to listen. Her auto-regeneration was taking even longer than last time to kick in.

Before she knew it, there were tears rolling down her face. They were tears of frustration. Frustration at her inability to protect Hajime even after he'd protected her so many times.

The Hydra took a moment to let out a victorious "Graaaaaaah!" before firing the next barrage of light balls.

Yue's death drew closer in the form of rainbow colored light. She refused to close her eyes. If nothing else, she wasn't going to be defeated in spirit. She glared right at the silver-crested head, determined to go down fighting.

Eventually, the balls filled her vision and she couldn't even see the Hydra anymore. They were going to hit her. She would die. Inside her head she apologized to Hajime for dying before him. For not being able to protect him. But suddenly... a gust of wind flew by.

"Eh?" By the time she'd grasped what was going on, Yue was in someone's arms and the light balls were passing by to her side. Her expression filled with utter disbelief, she looked up at the person holding her.

It was, of course, none other than Hajime. His body was still covered in wounds, he was panting heavily, and his right eyelid was tightly shut.

"Don't cry, Yue. You won this fight."

"Hajime!"

Overcome with emotion, she hugged him tight. His wounds had barely begun to heal. In reality, he was standing on willpower alone.

But he still glared angrily at the Hydra's silver head. It was looking condescendingly down on the both of them as it fired yet another barrage of light balls. It looked as if it was saying something like "What can a half-dead ape like you do?"

"Too slow." Hajime waited until the last minute before dodging with unsteady movements.

The silver head narrowed its eyes in anger and fired another salvo.

"Hajime, run!" Yue shouted frantically, but Hajime seemed utterly unconcerned. With Yue still held tight in his arm, he spun and danced around the Hydra's attacks. Though at times he stumbled, he never failed to dodge. In fact, it looked more as if the balls were dodging him than the other way around. And Yue watched it all, her eyes full of wonder.

"Yue, drink my blood." He spoke quietly, his silent gaze inviting her. For once, she hesitated. He had lost so much blood already. He dodged with tottering steps, but he still pushed Yue's face closer to his neck.

"Your magic is our only hope, Yue... So do it. Hurry up, and win this for us!"

"...Okay!"

Yue acquiesced to Hajime's powerful words, and nodded. She chose to trust in him and buried her face in his neck. Her body healed rapidly as his blood flowed into her. They danced a dance of death, the two of them, as they weaved their way through a storm of bullets.

For a moment, everything lost all sense of color for Hajime. He was whirling his way through a world of black and white, while everything around him moved in slow motion. Only his movements remained sharp.

He had seen it all. While he had been struggling to remain conscious, he had watched as Yue had fought all on her own. He watched as she desperately fought with his gun, until finally she was backed into a corner. He watched as she was thrown to the floor and bombarded with light.

It was at that moment that a seething anger had welled up. Anger at himself. What the hell are you doing!? How long do you plan to lie here sleeping!? Are you going to let your partner get killed right under your nose!? You're going to give in to that shitty excuse of a monster!? No! No I won't! Anything that threatens my—that threatens our survival is an enemy! And enemies are to be...

"Killed!" Hajime had felt a tingling run through his body, and suddenly he had awoken to a new skill. He had acquired the final derivative skill of Air Dance, Riftwalk. By focusing all five of his senses to the utmost limits, his other Air Dance derivatives grew that much. stronger. The extremes of his situation had forced him to surpass his limits once more.

It was that ability that had allowed Hajime to instantly teleport to Yue's side, and it was that ability that was currently allowing him to dodge the Hydra's attacks.

Yue finished drinking his blood, her strength fully restored.

"Yue, hit him with Azure Blaze when I give the signal. Until I do, just focus on dodging."

"Okay... But what about you, Hajime?"

"I'll be laying the groundwork for your finisher."

He let Yue down behind one of the pillars and then charged the Hydra.

He dodged each of the light balls by a hair's breadth using Supersonic Step, and then fired Donner once he got close enough. Annoyed by the fact that the last shot had still managed to scratch him, the silver head dodged this one. The bullet passed harmlessly through the air and bored a small hole into the ceiling above.

Unconcerned, Hajime continued firing as he ran. Sadly, each of his bullets only served to put more holes in the ceiling.

The silver head scoffed at Hajime as it effortlessly dodged. Yue was a little worried about Hajime's uncharacteristically sloppy shooting, but she chose to believe in him and wait.

Once he exhausted a chamber's worth of bullets, Hajime took to the air with Aerodynamic. His leaps had grown more precise and he freely flew through the air, sticking close to the ceiling.

Tired of being toyed with, the silver head began firing auroras off at random. Hajime grinned as he dodged them with ease. He was reading the Hydra like an open book. And he had noticed it had to stop moving to recharge every time it fired.

"This is for hurting Yue. I hope you like it." He finished reloading Donner and fired all six bullets at once, each in a slightly different direction.

Six small explosions dotted the ceiling, and after a moment of silence, a section of it came crumbling down. Ten tons of rock hurtled toward the Hydra. And the Hydra was unable to escape in time as it rained down on its head.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?" The beast screamed in both surprise and pain. Hajime's timing had been perfect. He had aimed for the moment it stiffened up after firing an aurora to make sure it wouldn't be able to escape.

He had missed originally on purpose, and then had run around the ceiling transmuting it to weaken the foundations while also setting up grenades in various locations. His six shots had been to set off the grenades.

But he didn't stop there. He hadn't done all that just to drop a giant rock on it. He closed the distance to the trapped Hydra in a single Supersonic Step, then began transmuting the rubble around it to make a perfect prison. He transmuted the area around its head specifically to make something like a blast furnace.

He then threw his whole pouch of grenades into the blast furnace and shouted the following:

"Now, Yue!"

"Okay! Azure Blaze!"

A burning blue sun appeared within the blast furnace, consigning the trapped Hydra to hell. His grenades all exploded at once when the blast hit, dealing a considerable amount of damage to the silver head.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!" The silver head screamed in pain. It started firing light balls everywhere, desperately looking to free itself. But whenever it managed to break one of the walls, Hajime simply transmuted it back in place. It had just fired an aurora too, so it wasn't able to pull out another right away. Slowly but surely, the blue sun sank deeper into the furnace, purging the monster with a fire hotter than hell.

Sense Presence told him the Hydra was now well and truly dead. Once he was sure it was gone for good, Hajime collapsed on the spot.

"Hajime!" Yue tried to rush over to him, but her body was exhausted too, so she was forced to crawl instead.

"You pushed yourself... too hard..." Yue somehow managed to crawl over to Hajime. He could feel her hugging him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Meanwhile, as Hajime and Yue were fighting with the Hydra, the party of heroes was taking a short break from their dungeon expedition and were resting in the capital.

The increased strength of the monsters they faced combined with the strain of scouting out an unmapped floor had of course taken its toll on the students, but that wasn't the only reason they had chosen to take a break. There was apparently also someone waiting at the palace to meet them. The Hoelscher Empire, which had shown no interest in the heroes thus far, had suddenly sent an envoy to greet them.

Kouki and the others were naturally wondering why they would send someone after all this time.

The reason there hadn't been any representative from the Hoelscher Empire, which was allied with the Heiligh Kingdom, when the heroes were first summoned was that there had been very little time since the oracle's message from Ehit and the summoning itself. That being said, the king had assumed even if they had managed to get a message to the Empire in time they wouldn't have bothered to send an envoy. The main reason being that ever since its founding at the hands of a famous mercenary 300 years ago, the Empire has been a strength-based meritocracy. Adventurers and mercenaries of all kinds called that holy land their home precisely because they could make a name for themselves with the strength of their sword arm alone.

People like them wouldn't accept some summoned humans as their new leaders just like that. While the Holy Church did have a presence there, and most of its citizens were technically believers, they weren't nearly as devout as the citizens of the Kingdom. Since even the merchants and officials generally came from a mercenary or adventurer background, almost all of the citizens valued coin over religion. That having been said, they were still believers even if they weren't as devout.

However, it was quite likely that they would've spurned the heroes had they met them when they were first summoned. That was why it was fortunate that Hoelscher's emperor had seemingly shown no interest in the heroes until now.

Their sudden change of heart had come about when they had heard the reports that Kouki's party had cleared the sixty-fifth floor of the Great Orcus Labyrinth, something no one else had managed to do before. When news of the historic breakthrough had reached the Empire's ears, they had immediately dispatched a messenger to the kingdom informing them that they wished to meet these new heroes. Both the king and the Holy Church agreed that it was probably the best time to let them meet the heroes.

Captain Meld relayed all of this information at length to Kouki and the others on their return trip to the capital.

As the students were getting off their carriages, a single boy came running toward them from the palace. He was around ten years old, with blond hair and blue eyes. He resembled Kouki in many ways, though he was more of a rambunctious little kid. He was, of course, the prince of Heiligh, Lundel S. B. Heiligh.

The young prince resembled a puppy welcoming home its owner as he ran up to one of the girls and started shouting at her.

"Kaori! You're finally back! I was waiting for you!" Of course, it wasn't just Kaori who had returned. All the other students on the expedition had also come back with her. Most of them were clearly annoyed that Prince Lundel basically ignored their existence.

Lundel had been infatuated with Kaori since the day she was summoned. But of course, he was still only ten years old. Kaori simply thought of him as a little kid who had grown attached to her. She had no reason to suspect his feelings ran any deeper than that. And since she was naturally inclined to look after others, she simply treated him like a cute little brother.

"Prince Lundel, It's nice to see you again." Even Kaori thought he resembled a puppy with the way he craved her attention as she smiled kindly at him. Lundel blushed bright red, but he still tried to look as manly as possible in front of his crush.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you in ages! Everything felt so boring while you were gone. You're not hurt, are you? If only I was stronger, you wouldn't have to fight for us..." Lundel bit his lip unhappily. Kaori no longer held any desire to sit back and let others protect her, but she still smiled at the boy's childish resolve.

"I'm truly happy you're so concerned about me, but there's really no need to worry. I'm fighting because I want to."

"No, fighting doesn't suit you, Kaori. Th-There has to be some kind of safer job you can do."

"Like?" Kaori tilted her head slightly. Lundel somehow managed to blush even brighter. Shizuku watched the entire exchange from the sidelines, smiling as she watched the prince's clumsy attempts to woo Kaori.

"W-Well, How about being a maid? I could even make you my personal maid so you don't have to work too much."

"A maid? Sorry, but I can't accept your offer. I'm a priest, so..."

"Then how about working at the hospital? There's no need to expose yourself to danger and fight at the front lines in the labyrinth, is there?"

The kingdom had a state-run hospital in the capital. It was located right next to the palace. It was quite obvious that he wasn't really worried about Kaori's safety. Lundel merely wanted to keep her close to him. Unfortunately, Kaori was too dense to realize that.

"I'm sorry, but it's only at the front lines that I can heal the injured right away. I'm truly grateful you're so worried about me, but I'm going to keep fighting."

"Hmph..." Lundel pouted a little as he realized he would be unable to change Kaori's mind no matter what he said. It was then that the thickheaded bundle of justice decided to butt in and pour oil on the flames.

"Your Highness, Kaori's a very dear childhood friend of mine. I promise I won't let any harm come to her," Kouki said with a grin, intending to assuage the young boy's worries. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that only made matters worse. To the smitten Lundel, it sounded like he was saying "Don't you dare lay a hand on my woman. As long as I'm around, I won't let anyone else have Kaori!" The hero and the healer. They really did seem like a dream couple.

Lundel glared hatefully at Kouki, as if he were staring at his mortal enemy. To his young mind, it seemed as if Kouki and Kaori were already lovers.

"How can you call yourself a man when you take Kaori to such dangerous places with you?! I won't lose! I'll show you that Kaori's better off with me!"

"Umm..." Kaori stared at Lundel, puzzled by his sudden outburst as Kouki just stared at him blankly. And Shizuku, having watched the entire exchange, just sighed at Kouki's dense attitude.

Lundel ground his teeth angrily, and Kouki opened his mouth to try and smooth the situation over. But before he could make matters worse, a sharp voice rang out across the courtyard.

"Lundel, stop acting like a child. You're bothering Kaori and Kouki."

"S-Sister...!? B-But—"

"No buts. Everyone's working so hard for our sake, but you're completely ignoring their feelings and trying to keep Kaori here... Don't you think you're being immature?"

"Aww... B-But..."

"Lundel?"

"I-I just remembered something I have to do! Excuse me!"

Unwilling to admit his own mistake, Lundel turned around and ran off. Princess Liliana sighed exasperatedly as she watched him go.

"Kaori, Kouki, I apologize on my brother's behalf. He must have caused you a great deal of trouble." She bowed deeply as she apologized to them, and her long blonde hair fell gracefully over her shoulders.

"There's no need to apologize, Lili. I'm sure Lundel was just worried about me."

"Exactly. I'm not sure why he was so angry, but... if I said anything that offended him, it's me who should be apologizing."

Liliana simply smiled awkwardly. She sympathized a little with her little brother. The target of his affections wasn't interested in him in the least. Worse, his self-proclaimed love rival didn't even care that he was around.

There had actually been quite the commotion when Kouki and Lundel had first met, but... that was a story for another time.

Liliana was currently fourteen years old. Her beautiful appearance and flowing blonde hair made her popular both within the palace and among the common folk. She was serious about her duties, gentle, and not too uptight about social standing. Despite her station, she was kind to the servants and maids, and got along well with people of all classes.

She was actually deeply troubled by Kouki and the other students' situation. Not only in her capacity as a princess, but on a personal level as well. She felt extremely guilty about getting a group of unrelated children embroiled in her country's problems.

It took her no time at all to get friendly with most of the summoned students. In fact, she got along especially well with Kaori and Shizuku, and before long they had dropped formal titles and were calling each other by nicknames.

"There's no need for that, Kouki. Lundel's just a bit wild, so don't mind him. More importantly, welcome back everyone. I'm glad you all returned safe and sound." Liliana smiled warmly at the students. Even though they were used to seeing beauties like Kaori and Shizuku in their class, the guys were still utterly charmed by her friendly smile. Liliana's beauty was accentuated by the refined air of royalty, something that few other people could hope to match.

The members of Hiyama and Nagayama's groups were both beet red, and even some of the girls were blushing slightly. The students were all overwhelmed by the fact that they were speaking directly to royalty, something they would never have gotten the chance to do in their own world. To them, it was strange that Kaori and Shizuku were able to talk to her like she was just another one of their friends.

"Thanks, Lili. Your smile alone is enough to blow all our exhaustion away. I'm happy to see you again too," Kouki replied, with his usual set of cliched lines accompanied by his trademark smile. However, to reiterate, Kouki had no ulterior motives hidden in his words. He truly was just happy to come back alive and see his friend once more. In reality, he was completely clueless about the effects his words and conduct had on others.

"Eh, r-really? U-Umm..." Since she was a princess, Liliana had gotten used to receiving compliments from all sorts of people. Nobles, foreign dignitaries, messengers, and even commoners praised her beauty or her intelligence at every turn. Hence why she had mastered the art of discerning people's true intentions.

And that was precisely why she was able to tell Kouki sincerely meant every word he uttered. The only other people that complimented her sincerely were her family, so she wasn't used to wholehearted praise.

She blushed a deep crimson as she scrambled to formulate some kind of reply. That easily flustered side of her was also part of the reason she was so popular.

Kouki just stood there, grinning happily, once again utterly unaware of the effects his words had caused. As always, Shizuku sighed tiredly behind him. It was because she knew him so well that she understood that, even if someone tried to tell him, he wouldn't get it.

"Umm, anyway, thank you so much for everything you're doing for us. There's a warm meal and hot baths waiting for everyone, so please take some time to relax. The Hoelscher Empire's envoy isn't due to arrive for a few days, so there's no need to rush." Liliana managed to compose herself and give a princess-like response.

The students all began winding down, and slowly eased away the exhaustion they'd built up during their labyrinth excursion. They told their classmates who stayed behind that they'd defeated the Behemoth, and shouts of joy could be heard echoing throughout the palace halls. The good news convinced more of them to return to the front lines, and the labyrinth party's numbers quickly swelled. The ones who'd been away also learned from the ones who stayed behind that Aiko-sensei was being called the Harvest Goddess by the citizens because of how amazing her agricultural skills were. Aiko herself was embarrassed by the nickname, and didn't particularly want anyone calling her by it. While most of the students were glad to finally have a break, Kaori alone wished they were still down there fighting.

Three days after the students' return, the Hoelscher Empire's envoys arrived. Five dignitaries were currently standing on the throne room's red carpet. The students who had all gone on the labyrinth expedition, all the important nobles, and Ishtar's posse of priests were, of course, all there to receive them.

"Welcome, envoys. You are free to appraise our kingdom's saviors at your leisure."

"Your Majesty, we are truly grateful that you have granted us this audience at such short notice. Pardon my abruptness, but which among them is the hero we have heard so much about?"

"Allow me to introduce him. Sir Kouki, if you would be so kind as to step forward."

"As you wish."

With the necessary formalities out of the way, it was finally time for Kouki's introduction. He stepped forward as requested. Though scarcely two months had passed since his summoning, Kouki's build and expression had both become much manlier.

Had any of the maids, noble's daughters, or members of Kouki's fan club been present in the hall at the time, they would have wet their panties at the sight of his dashing figure. There were dozens of noble ladies that had approached Kouki already, but his dense mind simply thought they were all nice people who wanted nothing more than to chat with him. He was the very incarnation of a dense harem protagonist.

"You're quite young. Forgive me for being so forward, but have you really cleared the sixty-fifth floor? If I recall correctly, a vicious monster known as a Behemoth guards the exit to that floor." The envoy that spoke watched Kouki carefully. He couldn't be too overt with Ishtar's eyes on him, but he was clearly suspicious of Kouki's abilities. One of his guards sized up Kouki, as if he were evaluating a piece of merchandise.

Kouki found the man's gaze disquieting, but he still answered their questions.

"Umm, would you believe me if I explained how we beat it? Or would it be better to show you the partial map we have of the sixty-sixth floor?" Kouki threw out a number of suggestions, but the envoy grinned boyishly and shook his head to deny them all.

"No, words won't convince me. There's a much faster and more efficient way of making sure, don't you think? How about you have a mock battle with one of my guards here. That'll show us the fullest extent of your skills, Sir Hero."

"Well, I don't mind, but..."

Kouki seemed somewhat unsure and turned to look back at King Eliheid. King Eliheid, in turn, looked to Ishtar for confirmation, who nodded solemnly. It wouldn't have been difficult to invoke Ehit's name and use the force of religion to get the Hoelscher Empire to accept Kouki as the leader of the human resistance, but having them fight him was the fastest way to clear up any doubts about his abilities.

"Very well. Sir Kouki, please demonstrate your strength to our guests."

"Then it's decided. Could you please prepare a suitable location for our bout?"

Once the match was decided, all of the members present shuffled out of the throne room and onto the venue of the fight.

Kouki's opponent looked average in every way. Average height, average looks, average build. He was someone that would instantly disappear in a crowd of people. At a glance, he didn't seem all that strong either. The envoy's bodyguard drew his sword lazily and let it hang limply at his side. He didn't bother to take any kind of stance.

Anger started to build within Kouki at being underestimated so blatantly. He started off more vigorously than he had initially intended, thinking a powerful attack would make his opponent take the fight seriously.

"Here I come!" Kouki moved like the wind. With the power of his Supersonic Step, he closed the distance to his opponent in an instant and swung down with his bamboo practice blade.

An average warrior would have had trouble just following his movements. Kouki planned on stopping just before actually hitting his foe. But it seemed such consideration was unnecessary. The one who had been underestimating their opponent was in fact Kouki.

"Ah!?" He let out a surprised cry as he was blown backward. The bodyguard was simply standing there, glaring at Kouki with his sword half-raised. The instant Kouki had let the strength drain from his arms to pull the swing short, the bodyguard had flicked his sword up and flung Kouki back.

Kouki slid across the ground for a few seconds before somehow managing to recover his stance. After that, he stared at the bodyguard in open-faced shock. Even if he had been focusing his attention on controlling his power, the fact that he hadn't been able to see the guard's attack at all was unbelievable.

The bodyguard lowered his raised sword and returned to his original defenseless stance. I see. The reason I couldn't follow that attack was because it was so natural and harmless that my body didn't feel any danger from it, Kouki suddenly thought.

"...Hey, Hero. You don't come from a fighting background, do you?" Kouki squinted his eyes suspiciously, still somewhat physically and mentally rattled from that last exchange. The bodyguard was regarding him with a ponderous expression as he haughtily asked that question. Though he stumbled over his words, Kouki managed to get out a reply.

"Eh? Umm, no, I don't. I was originally just a student."

"...And now you're Ehit's chosen hero, huh?"

He scoffed contemptuously and shot a quick glance over at Ishtar and his priests. Then, with those same unnaturally natural movements, he began closing in on Kouki.

"Prepare yourself, Hero. If you hold back again..." Goosebumps coated Kouki's arms. The bodyguard's tone of voice clearly conveyed what awaited him if he held back. There was a sudden surge of bloodlust, which made Kouki's instincts start screaming at him. He quickly raised his sword over his head, which was the only thing that prevented him from being decapitated right then and there.

"Ugh!?" There was the loud thump of sword against sword as their weapons met. The force of the man's unrefined swing sent Kouki to his knees, and he gazed up into the bodyguard's eyes, his thoughts paralyzed by shock. How on earth did he get to me so quickly!?

The bloodlust coming off the bodyguard was dense enough to be palpable.

"Ah... Uwaaaaaaaah!!!" Kouki let out an incoherent roar and suddenly large gouts of mana began pouring from his body.

The force of his mana alone was enough to push the bodyguard back, breaking his stance. Kouki took advantage of that opening and thrust forward with his Holy Sword. But milliseconds before it pierced through the man's skin, Kouki's sword suddenly slowed. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was trying to hold back. The slowing of his sword had been due to something more instinctive. The bodyguard suddenly narrowed his eyes. Then...

"Let's stop here," he muttered coldly. At the same time, he recovered his stance almost instantly, and blocked Kouki's desperate attack with a lazy flick of his sword. Following that, he jumped back and sheathed his weapon.

"Eh? Huh?" Kouki gazed at him blankly, and the bodyguard simply stared at him coldly.

"Hey, do you realize what it is you're going to be going up against?"

"U-Umm, we'll be fighting monsters and demons and stuff... The ones who are making all these people suffer."

"Monsters and demons and stuff, huh? And you think you can handle that with such cowardly attacks? Doesn't seem like it to me. You're supposed to be the one who'll lead us in battle? Don't make me laugh." The man threw Kouki's words back in his face and criticized his shortcomings with neither an ounce of scorn or ridicule in his voice. He spoke mechanically, stating the simple truth. Even Kouki couldn't take this much abuse lying down.

"Don't you think it's rude to call my attacks cowardly? I'm serious about—"

"A kid who's afraid to get hurt or hurt others can't do anything. Don't go running your mouth when you won't even come at me with the intent to kill. You can't claim you're 'serious' with that half-assed resolve of yours."

Kouki shut his mouth, suddenly at a loss for words. He recovered quickly enough and was about to retort with something like, "I'm not afraid!" but the bodyguard had already turned around and was walking back.

The king and the priests suddenly started shouting, saying things like, "How dare you act so rudely toward our hero!" and, "How can you call the battle over when he hasn't even had a chance to show you his skills!" and so forth. Bolstered by the support, Kouki was about to begin protesting again, but before he could, Ishtar soothed the crowd with his aged voice.

"As you can see, our hero is still in the midst of his growth. It's unfortunate, but he simply does not have enough experience yet. I do not expect your nation to come to a conclusion right away. I shall assume the words you directed at our esteemed hero were for his own sake. I hope we can leave it at that. If not, as the pope of the Holy Church, I may have to sanction an inquisition against you. You understand what that would mean, correct, Emperor of Hoelscher, Gahard?"

"...Tch, so you figured it out. What a shrewd old geezer."

The bodyguard kept his voice low, so no one could hear his blasphemy. Then, he turned around and removed the earring on his right ear. As he did so, he was surrounded by a thick gray mist. When it cleared, a completely different person was standing in his place.

The emperor was a savage-looking man in his mid-forties. He had silver hair that he kept cropped short, and piercing blue eyes that reminded one of a wolf's. He was passably handsome and possessed rippling muscles that corded the entire length of his body. The entire room broke out in an uproar.

"L-Lord Gahard!?"

"The Emperor himself!?"

The man Kouki had fought was none other than Gahard D. Hoelscher, the emperor of Hoelscher. Eliheid massaged his temples as he asked a question, seeming nonplussed.

"What on earth are you doing, Lord Gahard?"

"Well well, if it isn't His Highness Eliheid. I apologize for not greeting you earlier. I apologize also for this disguise. I simply wished to ascertain this hero's strength with my own eyes. After all, his existence will play a vital role in our battles to come. Do please forgive my insolence."

Though he apologized profusely, Gahard didn't seem all that sorry for what he had done. Eliheid simply sighed and shook his head as he said "Forget it" in response to the man. Kouki and the other students were utterly confused. Even putting aside the emperor's incredible footwork and combat skills, everyone was treating his surprise appearance like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Ishtar, Your Holiness. As you so wisely discerned, my words were nothing more than advice for our young hero. I would never dream of belittling Ehit's chosen warrior. I apologize if I seemed too brusque; it's simply a bad habit I picked up from my countrymen."

Gahard's reply was so insincere that it could hardly even be considered an apology. Still, Ishtar's calm expression never faltered, and he bowed his head ponderously.

"As long as you understand," was the only response he uttered. The whole event was then smoothed over, and the two rulers began discussing the affairs of state. Eliheid managed to extract at least a flimsy promise from Gahard that they would support the new hero "based on the promise he'd shown," thus concluding the main reasonfor his visit.

Later that evening, in his private quarters, Gahard told his subordinates what he really thought.

"Man, that brat's no good. He's barely out of his diapers. The way he talks, it's clear he really believes all that bullshit he spouts about ideals and justice. What's worse is that he has just enough strength and charisma for people to believe him, too. He's the kind of person that'd kill without hesitation for the sake of his 'ideals.'"

"Agreed. I can't believe he honestly put demons and monsters together on the same level. If it had been a conscious decision, then it wouldn't have been so bad, but..."

"Yeah, he clearly wasn't thinking at all when he said that. In fact, he's the type that probably thinks ignorance is bliss. I'm amazed he's managed to live so long with that mindset. Maybe his original world was just one where that was acceptable, or maybe his strength has just carried him until now. Either way, he's nothing but trouble. Unfortunately, we can't speak out against him because he's Ehit's chosen warrior. For now, we have no choice but to go along with that brat's whims." As far as the emperor was concerned, Kouki was no

hero at all. Gahard shrugged his shoulders, but when he thought back on how strong Kouki had been despite only learning how to fight a few months ago, he reasoned there might have been some potential in him yet.

"Well, maybe he'll live up to his name after he's fought a few demons. We can make our final evaluations then. For now, we just have to make sure we don't get caught up in those damn priests' machinations. Be wary of that crafty pope."

"Yes, my lord."

Unaware of the true evaluation he'd received, Kouki stood outside the palace gates along with the others to see off the emperor the next day. It seemed like he was leaving right away since he'd finished what he'd come for. He really was one spry ruler.

As an aside, it appeared that the emperor had run into Shizuku during her morning training and had grown quite smitten with her. He had even invited her to be his mistress. Shizuku had politely declined, to which the emperor had simply laughed and said, "Well, just think about it." It hadn't blown up into a serious issue, but Kouki had also been there to witness the event. When the emperor caught sight of him, he had just laughed scornfully. It was then that everyone present had realized those two would never get along.

Needless to say, Shizuku simply sighed.